


The Longing for a Friend

by SoruyaWrites



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - La danse macabre (IDOLiSH7), Angst, Arme and Qual's past together, Arme tries to make a friend, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:07:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29150955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoruyaWrites/pseuds/SoruyaWrites
Summary: Arme's daily life has always been the same. So when an attendant who is only a few years older in age is appointed to him, Arme decides to try befriending him. Except his status as the Celestial may prevent him from truly bridging the gap between him and this new attendant.
Relationships: Arme & Qual
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	The Longing for a Friend

Every day was unchanging. Arme would wake up and have attendants clean him up. Then he would receive food. After eating, he would read. Or simply lie in his bed and stare at the ceiling. He would receive food again in the afternoon. Then he would tend to his water lilies, all nicely planted in a vase. Or he would read again. He received food once more in the evening. If he had energy left, he would read or mindlessly pace around his room. Then he would finally go to sleep. Or try to. Sleep never came easily to him.  
  
The pristine room he lived in had everything he could need. And he had attendants to bring him meals and bathe him when he needed it. One would think Arme was living like royalty. However, Arme never felt like royalty. The people’s fastidious care of him as the Celestial felt strangely detached. They never viewed Arme as human, even though he looked and breathed the same as them.  
  
On the fated day that arrived every four years, where Arme was presented as the Celestial for the masses to worship, Arme would catch glimpses of the world outside his room. However, Arme found those few glimpses agonizingly unremarkable. His view would be flooded with masses of people crowded below him, all bowing to him and singing his praises. Being out here on this day barely qualified as a refreshing experience. Arme couldn’t wander freely and learn about the Ark. He couldn’t act on his own terms.

***

Early in his childhood, Arme experienced a break in his normal routine. An eccentric attendant who was only slightly older than him had been appointed by the Chruch of Nerve to tend to him every day. This child attendant was taller than Arme and had scruffy brown hair. Arme likened him to a prince in one of his fantasy books, but only in appearances. This attendant seemed just as detached and emotionless as the others, much to Arme’s disappointment.

Nonetheless, this attendant soon became the one to watch over Arme every day. Whenever the attendant was not directly tending to Arme himself, they just tended to ignore each other. Arme would read on his bed or lie down lost in thought while the attendant went about cleaning his room with great efficiency.

At night was when the two spoke their only words to each other. A simple “good night” between each of them before the attendant left. Once the door had closed, Arme would sigh. He and this attendant were close in age, so shouldn’t they be friends? Perhaps his status as the Celestial prevented that kind of relationship between them. As long as people regarded him as a higher being, Arme could never truly be anyone’s equal. However, Arme always dispels such thoughts, hoping that maybe if he tries, he can close the gap between him and his attendant.

***

“What is your name?” It’s a simple question, but Arme knows this question will be testing the waters between him and his attendant. He wants to bridge the gap between them. In many of the books he read, close relationships always started with an exchange of names. A name was something that belonged solely to the person who had it and telling someone your name signified your trust in them. At least that’s what Arme gathered.

“…” The attendant’s back remains turned towards Arme, who sits on his bed. He remains absorbed in his task of folding Arme’s clothes on the other side of the small room. Arme pouts a little.

Then he starts wondering if he or this attendant even trust each other. The attendant was conscious of and took care of Arme’s basic needs, so that meant he does care for Arme to some degree. Right? Or maybe he just tended to and cared for the Celestial but didn’t even notice Arme’s existence.

Arme wonders if maybe he needs to be the one to show some sign of trust to the attendant first. He gets up and walks towards the attendant until he is standing right behind the attendant.

“My name is Arme.” The attendant pauses. He turns his head around slightly and amber eyes meet golden ones. Arme curves his lips up into a small smile, hoping that will encourage the attendant to relax. The attendant fully turns around, but his face is tense. Arme frowns a little. He was hoping for more of a reaction.

The attendant blinks, startled and flustered by Arme’s small display of frustration. “… A-ah… Celestial! I-is it alright for you to speak to me so casually?”

Arme’s gaze softens and he chuckles a little that he managed to get a boy who was taller and probably stronger than him to be taken by surprise. “Yes, it is.”

“B-but the Church has taught us to treat you more highly… and delicately. I-it is a great honor to me that you are speaking to me at all! But I don’t know if it’s appropriate.”

“Well, you are my personal attendant. Isn’t it reasonable that I want to know who you are? And as my attendant, isn’t it your duty to tend to my wants and needs?” This gives the attendant pause. “So, I want you to tell me your name.”

“But Celestial, I am but a mere servant compared to you. We are of different ranks. Even if you do learn my name, it will not change that fact. Besides, I am simply here to serve you.”

Arme sighs at the attendant’s rigidness. He didn’t want to pull the “Celestial” card, but this may be the only way he could even get something as simple as a name from the attendant. It feels disappointing.  
  
“Then I as the Celestial request that you tell me your name.” The attendant stiffened, as though still pondering if it was alright for him to have already talked to the Celestial this much. A tense silence passes between the two as Arme looks expectantly at the attendant and stares into his amber eyes.  
  
Then the attendant replies softly, “... Qual.” Qual. Arme tested the name in his head.  
  
“Qual.” A pause. “Qual.” Arme repeated the name out loud. It was the first name he learned on his own. Compared to “Misericorde” and “Eternea,” it was very short. But Arme found the shortness of the name refreshing. It was simple. Just like his own name. “It’s a nice name.”

“I am flattered that you think so… Arm--no, Celestial.” Arme looked down and frowned. He took a deep breath and met Qual’s eyes again.

“If you would like to call me Arme. You are free to do so.” There was an earnestness in Arme’s eyes. He was so close to achieving a more equal relationship between him and Qual. If Qual would just drop the formalities and stop viewing him as the Celestial for even a moment, then maybe… Arme hopes… they can be… friends.

“You don’t need to have to look so desperate, Celestial.” Arme grimaced and turned away from Qual. There was that indifference again.

“If it would please you, I’ll become your sole attendant for as long as the Church allows me. For you have graced me today with your favor.” Arme walks back to his bed and sits down, now looking at Qual from a distance. Qual’s expression was determined, but it lacked a fire behind it. For his part, Arme didn’t want to give up on having Qual become a friend. Maybe this would be the best option for now.

“I would like you to continue caring for me and staying by side,” Arme replies resolutely. He tries to keep his words vague and open, hoping to convey to Qual that he wants Qual by his side not just as his attendant.

“Then I shall do as you please, Celestial.” Qual gives a bow towards Arme. Arme just stares.

“Thank you. Qual.” For every time Qual continued calling him “Celestial,” Arme decided he would address Qual with his name as many times as he wanted. As many times as it would take until Qual would let his guard down and reciprocate Arme’s friendship.

***

Years have passed and Arme sits on his bed, reading. An attendant whose name and face Arme didn’t attempt to remember cleans up his room.

It had been some time since Qual told him he would no longer be Arme’s personal attendant. He explained he would be joining Unity Order as a soldier, which would not allow him to see Arme anymore.

Arme smiled bittersweetly, realizing that was the first time Qual had told him something personal about himself. And to have it be on the last day they could see each other was just cruel.

“I was hoping we could be friends, you know,” Arme mutters quietly to himself as he remembers that day.

“Celestial, did you say something?” the unknown attendant asks. Arme just smiles and shakes his head.

When the attendant finally leaves, Arme curls into himself on his bed.

“Ah, I feel… lonely.”


End file.
